Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew dies aged 91 - Channel NewsAsia Channel NewsAsia Singapore’s first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew dies aged 91 Mr Lee leaves behind two sons and a daughter. Posted 22 Aug 2015 13:53 Updated 30 Dec 2015 09:58 Email A SINGAPORE: Mr Lee Kuan Yew, who was Singapore’s first Prime Minister when the country gained Independence in 1965, has died on Monday (Mar 23) at the age of 91. "The Prime Minister is deeply grieved to announce the passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew, the founding Prime Minister of Singapore. Mr Lee passed away peacefully at the Singapore General Hospital today at 3.18am. He was 91," said the PMO. Arrangements for the public to pay respects and for the funeral proceedings will be announced later, it added. Mr Lee, who was born in 1923, formed the People’s Action Party in 1954, then became Prime Minister in 1959.

He led the nation through a merger with the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, as well as into Independence in 1965. He leaves behind two sons – Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Hsien Yang – and a daughter, Lee Wei Ling. HIS EARLY YEARS From early in his life, Mr Lee Kuan Yew had braced himself to face history’s tumultuous tides head-on. His efforts to build a nation were shaped by his early life experiences. For the young Lee Kuan Yew, the Japanese Occupation was the single most important event that shaped his political ideology. The depravation, cruelty and humiliation that the war wreaked on people made it clear to Mr Lee that, to control one’s destiny, one had to first gain power. Born to English-educated parents Lee Chin Koon and Chua Jim Neo, Mr Lee was named “Kuan Yew” which means “light and brightness”, but also “bringing great glory to one’s ancestors”. He was given the English moniker “Harry” by his paternal grandfather. He continued the family tradition of being educated in English, and read law at Cambridge University after excelling as a student at Raffles College.

His experience of being as a colonial subject when he was in England in the late 1940s fuelled his interest in politics, while also sharpening his anti-colonial sentiments. He said later: “I saw the British people as they were. They treated you as colonials and I resented that. I saw no reason why they should be governing me – they’re not superior. I decided, when I got back, I was going to put an end to this.” Mr Lee’s political life began right after he returned to Singapore in 1950, when he began acting as a legal adviser and negotiator representing postal workers who were fighting for better pay and working conditions. He was soon appointed by many more trade unions, including some which were controlled by pro-communists. In a marriage of convenience to overthrow the British, Mr Lee formed the People’s Action Party in 1954 with these pro-communists and other anti-colonialists. THE BATTLE FOR MERGER A key part of winning power at the time was securing the support of the masses, and this meant reaching out to the Chinese-educated, which made up the majority of the population in Singapore.

He had taken eight months of Mandarin classes in 1950, and he renewed his Mandarin education five years later, at the age of 32. And within a short time, he had mastered the language sufficiently to address public audiences. In the mid-1950s, riots broke out that fuelled tensions between the local Government and the communist sympathisers in the Chinese community. A few pro-communist members of the PAP were arrested. Leading the PAP, Mr Lee fought for their release and ran a campaign against corruption in the 1959 elections for a Legislative Assembly. The PAP won by a landslide, and Mr Lee achieved what he had set out to do – Singapore was self-governing, and he was Prime Minister. But there were others who would contest the power he acquired, and they had different political agendas. It became apparent that leading Singapore meant having to break ranks with some of his anti-colonial allies – the pro-communists.

Mr Lee said of the pro-communists: “They were not crooks or opportunists but formidable opponents, men of great resolve, prepared to pay the price for the communist cause.” Mr Lee and his team were well aware of the hard fight they faced against the pro-communists, having seen up close how they could mobilise the masses through riots and strikes to paralyse a Government. And success in this fight depended a lot on Mr Lee’s leadership. The battle-lines were drawn sharply over the proposal for merger with Malaysia – the non-communists were for it, and the pro-communists were against it. There were compelling economic reasons for merger, but Mr Lee was also clear about its political necessity. To him, merger was absolutely necessary to prevent Singapore and Malaya being “slowly engulfed and eroded away by the communists”. He believed that building a common identity between individuals on either side of the Causeway would propel them across racial and religious divides towards a common land. Part of this was making sure that people felt that they are wanted, and not “step-children or step-brothers, but one in the family and a very important member of the family”.

He campaigned relentlessly and tirelessly for merger, speaking over the radio, and in nearly every corner of Singapore. After an intense public contest that pitted him against his political opponents, Mr Lee won and most Singaporeans voted in favour of the union with Malaysia. On Sep 16, 1963, which coincided with his 40th birthday, Mr Lee declared Singapore’s entry into the Federation of Malaysia. But this did not mean an easy working relationship between the two sides, and serious differences emerged. Mr Lee wanted a “Malaysian Malaysia”, where Malays and non-Malays were equal, and he would not condone a policy that supported Malay supremacy. Differences between the two sides grew – from conflicts between personalities and disagreements about a common market, to the PAP’s participation in Malaysia’s general election. Malaysian politicians considered it a breach of understanding for the PAP to take part in mainland politics. Things came to a head over constitutional rights. Mr Lee addressed the Malaysian Parliament in May 1965, in both English and Malay, laying out his case against communal politics.

But a year after racial riots were sparked off by what Mr Lee called Malay “ultras”, creating a deep divide, Singapore separated from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965. It was a time of great disappointment for Mr Lee, a moment which he said was one of “anguish” for him. FROM MUDFLAT TO METROPOLIS And so it was that Singapore became an independent state that day in 1965, but not by choice. The island’s 2 million people faced an uncertain future, and that uncertainty weighed heavily on the man who was leading it. Left with no hinterland and hardly any domestic market to speak of, Singapore’s only option was for its leaders to fight hard for its survival. And despite the daunting task that loomed ahead, Mr Lee chose to set his sights on building a country of the future, and he never veered from that vision. In his own words in September 1965: “Here we make the model multiracial society. This is not a country that belongs to any single community - it belongs to all of us. This was a mudflat, a swamp. Today, it is a modern city.

And 10 years from now, it will be a metropolis – never fear!” But this difficult task was soon made more challenging by another crisis. In 1968, Britain unexpectedly announced its intention to withdraw its troops from Singapore. Mr Lee and his team now had to confront the prospect of a country without its own security forces. Worse, thousands of workers retrenched from the British bases joined the already large numbers of unemployed in the country. Mr Lee’s good ties with British leaders led them to extend the departure of their forces to the end of 1971. These military bases contributed 20 per cent to the economy and provided jobs for 70,000 people, and the extension of the pull-out date softened the blow to Singapore’s economy. In the face of these looming challenges, Mr Lee and his team soldiered on to hold the fledgling country together, and to make it work. The vacated British naval bases were used to boost the economy, and efforts were made to attract investors to set up industries on the former British army land. To survive what was then a hostile neighbourhood, Mr Lee adopted a two-pronged approach to grow the economy.

First, to leapfrog the region and link up with the developed world, for both capital and market initiatives; and second, to transform Singapore into a “first world oasis in a third world region”. With first-world standards of service and infrastructure, Mr Lee saw the potential for Singapore to become the hub for businesses seeking a foothold in the region. Mr Lee most likely saw the possibilities for Singapore, including eventually enjoying the world’s highest per-capita income, and becoming a leading business centre for Asia. He would have attributed such success to the confidence of foreign investors drawn to the nation’s amicable industrial relations. Former President S R Nathan remembers Mr Lee’s focused approach: “He emphasised that his duty was to find ways and means of getting more jobs for people, and it was also the duty of the labour movement to help their fellow workers find jobs. And so for that, we needed industrial peace and a certain balance, not exploitation.” GETTING THINGS DONE The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) was formed in 1961 when the PAP split. Led by Mr Devan Nair, a founding member of the PAP, the NTUC led Singapore’s labour movement away from militant trade unionism to one marked by cooperation.

This made Singapore the first in the world to have a tripartite arrangement where workers, employers and the Government came together to discuss general wage levels. This cooperation contributed significantly to harmonious labour relations and, ultimately, to Singapore’s rapid development in the 1970s and 1980s. Mr Lee firmly believed that growth and development of the country was in the best interests of the workers and their unions. Speaking in 2011, he said: “In other words, growth is meaningless unless it is shared by the workers, shared not directly in wage increases, but indirectly in better homes, better schools, better hospitals, better playing fields, a healthier environment for their families, and for their children to grow up.” Singapore’s metamorphosis from mudflat to metropolis was not just a physical transformation. Equally remarkable was the transformation of the psyche of an entire population. Within the span of a few decades, Singaporeans came to be seen as a people who could get things done. Mr Lee played a big part in that change. From the start, he set the pace for excellence.

He once told senior civil servants: “I want to make sure every button works, and if it doesn’t when I happen to be around, then somebody is going to be in for a rough time, because I do not want sloppiness.” Sprucing up a young nation however was not so straightforward. Besides the challenge of ensuring sufficient security for the country’s borders, Mr Lee and his team had a more fundamental problem to tackle – that of a housing crisis. HOUSING A NATION Today, the 50-storey Pinnacle on Cantonment Road stands as an icon in Singapore’s 50-year-old public housing landscape. It is built on the site of one of the earliest public housing projects in the country. But housing in the 1950s was a far cry from what it is today. Slums were common when Singapore achieved self-government in 1959, and there was a full-blown housing crisis. To meet the nation’s acute housing shortage, the PAP set up the Housing and Development Board in 1960. The aim set for it was to build 10,000 homes a year.

Its predecessor – the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) – was highly sceptical that the new board would meet its ambitious target. The SIT itself had built only 20,000 flats in its entire 30-year history. The stakes were high and the difficulties daunting. The PAP, which had just come into power, needed to deliver results fast and gain the trust and confidence of Singaporeans. There was doubt even with the Government of whether the HDB could get the job done, and a committee was set up to find out if the board had the capability and the materials to complete 10,000 houses as planned. When the committee published its report, the HDB had already completed 10,000 units of housing. The HDB’s performance was crucial to the PAP’s re-election in 1963. But it was more than a question of providing affordable homes for the people. The social motive to do this was equally compelling, and public housing helped tighten the weave of Singapore’s social fabric. Mr Lee felt that it was important to have a rooted population.

He said in 2010: “If you ask people to defend all the big houses where the bosses live, and they live in harbours, I don’t think that’s tenable. So we decided from the very beginning that everybody must have a home, every family will have something to defend, and that home must be owner-owned, but they have to pay by instalments over 20, 25, even 30 years. And that home we developed over the years into their most valuable asset.” Today, more than 80 per cent of Singaporeans now live in subsidised public flats that they can call their own. Singaporeans now had a personal stake in their country that went beyond feelings of patriotism. They had a physical space they could call home, and a vested interest to defend it. National Service, aimed at defending the country and ensuring its borders were safe from external aggression, took on a different dimension. After independence, Singapore was left with just two battalions of the Singapore Infantry Regiment. There was an urgent need to build a substantial defence force.

And so National Service was introduced in 1967, with universal conscription making it compulsory for every male Singapore citizen to serve in the armed forces for about two years. It also contributed to promoting racial harmony. UNIFIED BY LANGUAGE In multi-racial Singapore, English is the common language used by all races. Mr Lee saw early on that English would be a unifier that would give Singapore an edge in the international arena. But he also believed that knowing one’s mother tongue would build a sense of belonging to one’s roots, and increase self-confidence and self-respect. And so he championed bilingualism. In retrospect, Mr Lee said that bilingualism was his most difficult policy to implement. He later admitted he had been wrong to assume that one could be equally fluent in two languages. He said in 2004: “Had I known all the difficulties of bilingualism in 1965, as I know now today, would I have done differently? Yes, in its implementation, but not in its policy.

I don’t regret the stress and heavy burdens I put, because the other way would have been a destruction of the chance of building up some form of culture worth preserving.” Former senior minister of state Ch’ng Jit Koon lauded Mr Lee’s foresight in creating a bilingual society. “If he did not succeed in bringing through our education system based on bilingual education, we will not have the advantage among other countries to tap on China’s economic trade,” he said in 2008. Indeed, Mr Lee and his team were very sensitive to issues involving race, knowing how combustible such matters could be. The formative years of the PAP, the battles against communism and extremism and the racial riots he lived through meant that Mr Lee never underestimated the potentially explosive nature of race relations. When it was time to remove the small, dilapidated mosques built on state land, he did so with caution. His plan was to replace these “suraus” with bigger and better mosques in every housing estate through voluntary contributions from the Malay-Muslim community, creating a sense of ownership and pride. Mr Lee also took special interest in ensuring that Singapore’s different communities would all have a share in its prosperity.

He believed better education was one of the keys to uplifting the Malay community. Cabinet minister K Shanmugam said it would have been easy for politicians in Singapore to appeal to the sentiments of the majority Chinese community to gain political power. But he felt that part of the success of Singapore is due to leaders like Mr Lee, who shunned racial politics. In an earlier interview in 2003, Mr Shanmugam said: “I think most sensible people in the Indian community, particularly those who went through the earlier struggles, who are older than me, accepted this - that we have the space and we have far more liberty and opportunity in Singapore than we would have if we were 6 per cent in any other society, including India, where many of the so-called upper caste Indians in Singapore would not have had a chance.” Mr Lee Hsien Loong said that the elder Mr Lee remembered the situation that had existed in Malaysia before Singapore became an independent state. “After we became independent, a point that he always reiterated was – never do to the minorities in Singapore that which happened to us when we were a minority in Malaysia.

Always make sure that the Malays, the Indians have their space, can live their way of life, and have full equal opportunities and are not discriminated against. And at the same time, help them to upgrade, improve, move forward,” he said in 2013. CLEAN AND GREEN Singapore is widely known for being a clean city, both in terms of its environment as well as governance. It is the least corrupt country in Asia, and according to the World Bank, it is one of the most preferred places in the world to do business. But it was not always graft-free. Corruption was widely prevalent when Singapore was still a British colony. In the 1959 election, the PAP, then the opposition, campaigned against the Government’s corrupt practices. Mr Lee said at the time: “I am convinced that we will thrive and flourish, provided there is an honest and effective Government here.” The PAP’s anti-corruption position resonated well with the voters. When the PAP Government took office, Mr Lee and his team turned up in all-white as a promise to the people that their leaders will not stand for corruption and will be “whiter than white”.

Over the years, the leadership’s zero tolerance for corruption earned Singapore a reputation for having a clean and effective Government. Establishing rule of law, public security and safety were fundamental to the success of the PAP. Mr Lee applied the effort to stay clean to the island’s physical transformation as well. From the outset, he was adamant that urban development in the country did not proceed haphazardly. He had seen how a lack of planning had marred other cities, and was determined that Singapore did not make the same mistake. Observers say this focus on paving the foundation for Singapore to have a first world environment while becoming a first world economy led to the good environment actually becoming an economic asset. And some felt that the efforts to green Singapore gave a certain softness and calmness to the country, and was not just an aesthetic benefit but spoke to the soul of Singaporeans. Mr Lee expressed his passion for greening Singapore in practical ways. He planted a tree every year, a tradition he started in 1963. This kicked off an island-wide tree-planting initiative and launched Tree Planting Day, a national campaign that helped Singapore earn its reputation as a Garden City.

Mr Lee wrote in his memoirs: “After independence, I searched for some dramatic way to distinguish Singapore from other Third World countries and settled for a clean and green Singapore. Greening is the most cost-effective project I have launched.” Mr Lee’s original vision of a Garden City evolved over the years into the concept of a City in a Garden, with about 2 million trees planted around the island. In June 2012, this transformation was celebrated with the opening of the Gardens by the Bay. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this was just one example of how Singapore’s living environment is being transformed. “It may be a densely populated city, maybe one of the densest in the world, but we are determined that our people should be able to live comfortably, pleasantly, graciously. Not just good homes, efficient public transport or safe streets, but also be in touch with nature, never far from green spaces and blue waters,” he said in 2012. Mr Lee Kuan Yew was not known to be sentimental about buildings or landmarks, and he was practical yet ambitious about transforming the nation’s landscape, even when it came to defying nature.

And one of his most important initiatives started in 1977, and involved the Singapore River – historically the lifeblood of the economy and the centre of commercial activity. The river had been the conduit for Singapore’s entrepot trade, allowing for the movement of goods from the port to the city. Over the years, it had degenerated into a filthy, congested, polluted waterway. The industries along its banks had been dumping sewage and garbage into its waters. The water was badly polluted and caused a stench in the area. Mr Lee’s proposal was perceived as a monumental feat: A clean-up of the entire river. The rebirth of the Singapore River took 10 years to complete, and today, it is not only glistening again, but its banks are also bustling with trendy restaurants, clubs and offices, and fish have even returned. The Singapore River, now part of the Marina reservoir, is a constant reminder of the man who defied time and tide. Its transformation mirrors the fascinating evolution of a small backwater into a thriving global metropolis, and its currents echo the ebb and flow of one man’s life as he turned an impossible dream into reality.

In Mr Lee Kuan Yew’s own words: “You begin your journey not knowing where it will take you. You have plans, you have dreams, but every now and again you have to take uncharted roads, face impassable mountains, cross treacherous rivers, be blocked by landslides and earthquakes. That’s the way my life has been.” - CNA/ly Lee Kuan Yew - Prime Minister, Lawyer - Biography.com Lee quotes “Even from my sick bed, even if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up.” Lee Kuan Yew Synopsis Born in Singapore on September 16, 1923, Lee Kuan Yew became the longest-serving prime minister in world history. Lee rose through the ranks of his country's political system before becoming the first prime minister of Singapore on June 5, 1959. In 1962, Lee led Singapore into a merger with Malaysia, but three years later, Singapore left the union for good. Lee resigned as prime minister in 1990, and his son became prime minister in 2004.

Lee died on March 23, 2015. Early Years Lee Kuan Yew was born into a wealthy Chinese family that had resided in Singapore since the 19th century. After World War II, Lee studied law at Fitzwilliam College, in Cambridge, UK. In 1950, he was admitted to the English bar, but instead of practicing law there, Lee returned to Singapore to do so. Political Beginnings At the time, Singapore was a British colony and held Britain's main naval base in the Far East. The country was ruled by a governor and a legislative council, mostly comprising wealthy Chinese businessmen who were appointed rather than elected by the people. In the early 1950s, Singapore buzzed with talk of constitutional reform and independence, and Lee banded with other like minds to challenge the governing structure of the country. Soon breaking from this group and taking a more radical stance, in 1954 Lee became secretary-general of his own party, the People's Action Party. The PAP Evolves In 1955, a new Singapore constitution was introduced.

It increased the number of elected seats on the council to 25 out of a total of 32, thereby allowing only 7 seats to be filled by appointment. In the elections that followed, the party founded by Lee's former colleagues, the Labour Front, won 13 seats, while Lee's PAP won merely 3. But with his party represented on the council, in 1956 Lee headed to London as part of the delegation seeking self-rule for Singapore. After the negotiations failed, Singapore experienced a year of civil unrest, but in 1957, Lee returned to London yet again as talks resumed. The next year, Lee helped negotiate what Singapore's status would be as a self-governing state, and a new constitution was formed. Under the new constitution, national elections were held in June 1959. Lee campaigned on an anticolonialist, anticommunist platform and called for sweeping social reforms and an eventual federation with neighboring countries. Lee's party won a decisive victory, taking 43 of the 51 seats in the assembly, and Singapore gained self-governing status (except in matters of defense and foreign affairs).

Lee was sworn in as prime minister on June 5, 1959, becoming the first prime minister of an independent Singapore. Singapore Independence Once in office, Lee Kuan Yew introduced a five-year plan calling for urban renewal and construction of new public housing, greater rights for women, educational reform and industrialization. His plan also called for a merger of Singapore with Malaysia, and after Malayan prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed the formation of a federation that would include Malaya, Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak, Lee began to campaign in favor of the effort and to end British colonial rule for good. To show that the people of Singapore were supportive, Lee used the results of a referendum held in September 1962, in which 70 percent of the votes were cast in favor of the proposal. So in 1963, Singapore joined the newly created Federation of Malaysia. In elections held shortly after, the PAP retained its control of Singapore's Parliament, and Lee held onto his post as prime minister.

Split With Malaysia Growing tension between Chinese and Malays in the Federation, however, resulted in rioting in Singapore, notably marked by the Prophet Muhammad Birthday Riots, or Sino-Malay riots, of the summer of 1964. A year later, with racial strife continuing, Lee was told by his Malaysian colleagues that Singapore must leave the federation. Lee was passionate about working out a compromise, but his efforts proved fruitless, and he signed a separation agreement on August 7, 1965. The failure of the merger was a serious blow to Lee, who believed that unity was crucial for Singapore's survival. In a televised press conference, he was emotionally drained as he announced the formal separation and Singapore's full independence: "For me, it is a moment of anguish," he said. "All my life ... I believed in Malaysian merger and unity of the two territories. You know that we, as a people, are connected by geography, economics, by ties of kinship ... It literally broke everything that we stood for ...

now Singapore shall be forever a sovereign democratic and independent nation, founded upon the principles of liberty and justice and ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people in a most and just equal society." With the broken union came problems beyond Lee's personal grief: Singapore's lack of natural resources and a limited defensive capability were major challenges. Singapore needed a strong economy to survive as an independent country, and Lee quickly spearheaded a program to transform it into a major exporter of finished goods. He also encouraged foreign investment and made moves to ensure a rising standard of living for workers. When the opposition party decided to boycott Parliament from 1966 onward, the PAP won every seat in Parliament in the elections of 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1980. Later Years and Legacy Lee resigned as prime minister in November 1990 but remained the leader of the PAP until 1992. After 14 years away, Lee's family took its place at the head of the Singapore government once again in the summer of 2004, when Lee's son Lee Hsien Loong took power.

In early 2015, Lee Kuan Yew was hospitalized with pneumonia. By early March, he was on a ventilator, in critical condition, and he died soon after, on March 23. Lee has left behind a legacy of an efficiently run country and as a leader who brought prosperity unheard of before his tenure, at the cost of a mildly authoritarian style of government. By the 1980s, Singapore, under Lee's guidance, had a per capita income second only to Japan's in East Asia, and the country had become a chief financial center of Southeast Asia. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information Death of Lee Kuan Yew Death of Lee Kuan Yew Washington, DC March 22, 2015 When Lee Kuan Yew became its first Prime Minister in 1959, Singapore was a newly independent nation with an uncertain future. By the time he left office 31 years later, the small island had been transformed into one of the most prosperous and dynamic countries in the world. Lee Kuan Yew exuded wisdom.

The counsel I was fortunate to glean from conversations with him--about life and politics and global affairs--is among the most valuable and insightful I have received. He was, of course, a uniquely astute analyst and observer of Asia, and it is largely through his life's work that Singapore became one of the United States' strongest strategic partners in the region. Teresa and I join so many around the world in offering our deepest condolences to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who has so ably carried on his father's legacy, to the entire Lee family, and to the people of Singapore, who Lee Kuan Yew always knew were his nation's greatest resource. May he rest in peace. In This Section: In Singapore Lee Kuan Yew Perfected a Distinct Authoritarianism | New Republic By Matt Schiavenza March 23, 2015 When Lee Kuan Yew became the prime minister of Singapore in 1959, he assumed control of an ethnically divided, impoverished territory lacking in natural resources.

In his 31 years in office—followed by another 21 in advisory roles—Lee transformed his country into one of the world’s most prosperous societies, a major business and transportation hub boasting a per capita GDP of $55,000. A half-century since achieving full independence following a split with Malaysia, Singapore emerged as perhaps the world’s most successful authoritarian state. Lee, who died of pneumonia on Monday at the age of 91, often pointed out that his accomplishment in governing Singapore were sui generis; given the island’s tiny size and modest population, they could not be replicated elsewhere. But during his decades of public life, the Singaporean leader emerged as an advocate for a paternalistic government, one that married economic liberalization with restrictions of individual liberty. Lee disavowed the idea that democracy was a virtue for its own sake. “People want economic development first and foremost,” he said in an interview printed in his 1998 book, The Man and His Ideas . “The leaders may talk something else. You take a poll of any people. What is it they want? The right to write an editorial as you like? They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools." This sentiment resonates deeply in China.

When the Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping launched market reforms in 1978, he viewed Singapore as a positive example and frequently consulted with Lee. “Deng was inspired by the fact that people of Chinese heritage could take part in modernization,” said Ezra Vogel, a Harvard professor and author of an acclaimed biography of the Chinese leader. In the ensuing decades, the Chinese government dispatched thousands of officials on educational missions to Singapore. The Communist Party reiterated its regard for Lee in comments published upon his death. “Mr. Lee Kuan Yew was a uniquely influential Asian statesman and a strategist boasting both Eastern values and an international vision,” Hong Lei, spokesman of China’s Foreign Affairs ministry, said in a statement released Monday. The reference to Eastern values was not accidental. During his last decades in public life, the Singaporean regime became increasingly critical of the American-led notion that human rights—including democracy—had worldwide applicability. In an interview published in the Atlantic in 2013, Lee argued that “Americans believe their ideas are universal—the supremacy of the individual and free, unfettered expression. But they’re not—and never were.” But Lee’s skepticism of Western values masks a reality that Singapore’s success, in large part, depended on them.

Fluent in English and nicknamed Harry, he insisted that English be used as Singapore’s lingua franca, thereby uniting the country’s Chinese, Indian, and Malay populations. He also took advantage of Singapore’s strategic location near the Strait of Malacca by investing heavily in port and transportation infrastructure, skillfully positioning his country for the explosion of international trade brought about by containerization. Unlike regimes who turned inward following independence, Singapore embraced multinational corporations and welcomed foreign ownership. “Lee understood that even though Singapore had a bitter experience of colonialism and invasion from the Japanese and British, his was a small country with no natural resources and would collapse without international investment,” said Ali Wyne, a Singapore expert and analyst at Wikistrat. “This differed from other newly decolonized countries who developed indigenously as a matter of principle, resisting multinationals as another tool of imperialism.” Lee’s accommodation to the U.S.-led postwar economic order brought widespread prosperity to his people. But Singapore’s nanny state deprived his citizens of civil liberties that residents of democracies take for granted. Singaporeans do not enjoy freedom of speech, a free press, or freedom of assembly.

Dissent is not tolerated; those who defy the ruling People’s Action Party are subject to incarceration without trial. Lee was notorious for suing publications, including the New York Times and the Economist, whom he thought maligned his regime. For such an authoritarian system, Singapore remains remarkably free of corruption, owing, in large degree, to Lee’s willingness to pay government officials a handsome salary. But critics have accused Lee of nepotism . Lee Hsien Loong, his son, is now in his twelfth year as Singapore’s prime minister. Other children and relatives of Lee occupy important positions of power and influence. And while Singapore is no doubt a prosperous society, one whose economic and diplomatic clout far exceeds its modest size, the country’s cultural impact has been minimal. “No great books have been written there, no scientific breakthroughs made,” wrote the British author Ian Buruma in a 1994 essay published in the Sunday Telegraph.

“There is not even a decent newspaper—how could there be, when the government defines your P’s and Q’s?” For Lee Kuan Yew, these deficiencies are a small price to pay for Singapore’s success—and, if the laudatory obituaries gracing the international media on Monday morning are any indication, many others agree. But can Lee’s achievements outlive him? Singapore’s famously tidy society has become, in recent years, less egalitarian and more pluralistic. The Singapore that Lee Kuan Yew built appears to be changing, and with it, Lee’s legacy. “A lot of younger Singaporeans hold simultaneously contradictory views of Lee,” said Wyne. “Most of them still respect him and admire his singular contributions to Singapore, but they also wonder whether he had to be so heavy-handed.” During his decades in public life, Lee never wavered from his conviction that he did what was necessary to improve the lives of his people. “What they think of me after I'm dead and gone in one generation will be determined by researchers who do PhDs on me, right?” he wrote in Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going , his 2011 book. “So there will be a lot of revisionism.

As people revised Stalin, Brezhnev and one day now Yeltsin, and later on Putin. I’ve lived long enough to know that you may be idealized in life and reviled after you’re dead.” His revilement may be a ways off yet, judging by the early returns since his passing. But if this self-selected peer group is an indication, revisions may one day be in order. Read More Sign up for your daily dose of politics, culture, and big ideas. Sign Up Lee Kuan Yew | prime minister of Singapore | Britannica.com prime minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, (born September 16, 1923, Singapore —died March 23, 2015, Singapore), politician and lawyer who was prime minister of Singapore from 1959 to 1990. During his long rule, Singapore became the most-prosperous country in Southeast Asia . Lee Kuan Yew Keystone/FPG Lee was born into a Chinese family that had been established in Singapore since the 19th century. His first language was English, and only upon entering politics did he acquire a command of Chinese as well as Malay and Tamil.

After attending school in Singapore, Lee briefly enrolled at the London School of Economics and Political Science before earning a law degree (1949) at Fitzwilliam House, Cambridge. There he headed the honours list. He also became a socialist. Although he was admitted (1950) to the English bar, he returned to Singapore. Appointed legal adviser to the Postal Union, he participated in negotiations to obtain higher wages for postal workers and subsequently did similar work for other trade unions. Singapore was a British crown colony and the site of Britain’s principal naval base in East Asia, which was ruled by a governor assisted by a legislative council. The council’s members consisted primarily of wealthy Chinese businessmen, most of whom were appointed rather than elected. When, in the early 1950s, constitutional reform was in the air in Singapore, Lee formed an alliance with two other political newcomers— David Saul Marshall , a lawyer, and Lim Yew Hock, a trade unionist—to challenge the hold of the businessmen on the council. Lee, however, soon broke with his two colleagues to take a more radical stand, becoming secretary-general of his own party, the People’s Action Party (PAP).

The party included some communists, Lee having accepted communist support for some years. In 1955 a new constitution was introduced that increased the number of elected seats on the council to 25 out of a total of 32. In the elections, the Labour Front, founded by Lee’s former colleagues, won 13 seats, while the PAP won 3—one of which, for a district inhabited by many of the poorest Chinese in Singapore, was won by Lee. The following year Lee returned to London as a member of a Singaporean delegation that unsuccessfully sought self-rule for the colony. Unrest in Singapore followed, during which a number of PAP leaders were imprisoned. In 1957 negotiations in London resumed, again with Lee on the delegation. After agreement was reached on a measure of self-government, Lee won a by-election in Singapore by an overwhelming majority. A brief power struggle within the PAP then ensued: in August Lee was ousted from the secretary-generalship by the party’s left wing, but he regained his post in October.

Britannica Stories Scientists Ponder Menopause in Killer Whales The next year (1958) in London, Lee helped negotiate the status of a self-governing state within the Commonwealth for Singapore. Elections were held under Singapore’s new constitution in May 1959, and Lee campaigned on an anticolonialist, anticommunist platform calling for social reforms and eventual union with Malaya. Lee’s party won a decisive victory, gaining 43 of the 51 seats, but Lee refused to form a government until the British freed the left-wing members of his party who had been imprisoned in 1956. After their release, Lee was sworn in as prime minister on June 5, 1959, and he formed a cabinet. He introduced a five-year plan calling for slum clearance and the building of new public housing, the emancipation of women, the expansion of educational services, and industrialization. In 1961 the PAP’s left-wing members broke away from the party to form the Barisan Sosialis (“Socialist Front”), and Lee subsequently broke his remaining ties with the communists.

Henceforth Lee and his fellow moderates within the PAP would dominate Singaporean politics. Structures of Government: Fact or Fiction? In 1963 Lee took Singapore into the newly created Federation of Malaysia . In elections held soon afterward, the PAP retained its control of Singapore’s Parliament, and Lee thus continued as prime minister. In 1964, however, he made the mistake of entering his party, 75 percent of whose members were Chinese, in the Malaysian national elections. The growing tension between Chinese and Malays resulted in communal rioting in Singapore itself. In August 1965 Lee was told by his Malaysian colleagues in the federal government that Singapore must leave the federation. Although Lee passionately believed in the multiracialism that the federation represented, Singapore had to secede. It then became a sovereign state with Lee as its first prime minister. Lee’s principal aims were to ensure the physical survival of the new state and to retain Singapore’s national identity. Surrounded by more powerful neighbours (including China and Indonesia ), Lee did not press for the immediate withdrawal of Commonwealth forces from Singapore. Instead, he sought to phase them out slowly and to replace them with a Singaporean force locally trained and patterned on the Israeli model.

Britannica Lists & Quizzes Photos from Singapore 1959 Election: New Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew SHARE Looking back to the day the country's longest-serving modern leader began his tenure When the People’s Action Party won the 1959 general election in Singapore, making Lee Kuan Yew the country’s first prime minister, LIFE was there to capture the energy in the elated crowd. And when Singapore was weeks away from gaining independence after its short-lived union with Malaysia, an eventful six years later, LIFE’s Hong Kong bureau chief sat down with Lee to hear his thoughts on the future of his country. Lee, whom LIFE described as having “a Spartan, no-nonsense — and above all — incorruptible dedication” to his role, repeatedly emphasized racial unity as the key to a successful Singapore. “We must forge a multiracial society out of our Indians and Chinese and Malays or we’re going to have one group dominating the other,” he said, “or were going to have segregation and partition which is fraught with danger for all of south Asia.” Half a century later, the coexistence Lee espoused is a defining feature of Singapore, a country in which nearly 40% of the population is foreign-born.

Emphasizing the importance of allegiance to Singapore above residents’ countries of origin, Lee recognized multiple national languages and religious holidays and prioritized residential integration. But declaring loyalty to Singapore was not tantamount to forswearing one’s ethnic identity. “I’m very proud of the fact that my ancestors are Chinese,” he said. “But our future lies in being part of Southeast Asia.” Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter at @LizabethRonk . | National Review @JohnFund The key is to ensure that one generation won’t bankrupt future generations by living beyond its means. Obituaries of Lee Kuan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore who died this week at age 91, broke down into roughly two camps: He was a hero, building a “clean as Disneyland” republic that runs like a Swiss watch. He was an autocrat, who built a successful economy but crushed opponents and journalists who challenged his “managed” democracy. Both statements have big elements of truth. I take a third approach, based on a fascinating visit I made to Singapore earlier this month.

Lee Kuan Yew, a member of Britain’s left-wing Labour party while a student at Cambridge, managed to create a workable welfare state, one that provides for people without creating Social Security–like Ponzi schemes or unsustainable entitlements. Both liberals and conservatives have much to learn from what he built, the details of which are missing in most of the tributes to him. Lee’s first priority when he became prime minister in 1959 was to reimagine Singapore’s economy. “Back then, this place was a swamp, with no natural resources, and it even had to import its drinking water from Malaysia,” Jim Rogers , a noted American investor who has lived in Singapore for nearly a decade, told me during my visit there. By embracing free trade, capital formation, vigorous meritocratic education, low taxes, and a reliable judicial system, Lee raised the per capita income of his country from $500 a year to some $52,000 a year today. That’s 50 percent higher than that of Britain, the colonial power that ruled Singapore for 150 years. Its average annual growth rate has averaged 7 percent since the 1970s.

“A 2010 study showed more patents and patent applications from the small city-state of Singapore (population 5.6 million) than from Russia (population 140 million),” noted economist Thomas Sowell observes . But that wealth wasn’t used to create a traditional welfare state. Economist Mark Skousen notes that Singapore is rated along with Hong Kong as one of the two most free economies in the world. Any expansion of government is gradual and grudging. In 2013, when Singapore broadened its medical-benefits program, the local Straits Times newspaper made clear the government’s philosophy: “The first [priority] is to keep government subsidies targeted at those who most need them, rather than commit to benefits for all. Universal benefits are ‘wasteful and inequitable,’ and hard to take away once given, [finance minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam] said.” That mindset is embodied in Singapore’s philosophy of welfare, which rests on four pillars: Each generation should pay its own way. Each family should pay its own way. Each individual should pay his own way. Only after passing through these three filters should anyone turn to the government for help. But it will be there when needed.

Singapore’s approach to the provision of health care, retirement income, and housing is in sharp distinction to that of other countries. People are required to make relatively high payments into savings plans from which they can later buy a home, pay tuition, and purchase a variety of insurance policies. For those under age 50, the employee contributes 20 percent of his income, and the employer 16 percent. A third of the employee’s share is put into a private Medisave account. When the balance reaches 34,100 U.S. dollars, any excess funds can be used for non-health-care purposes. All are enrolled in a catastrophic-health-care plan, although they can opt out. Lee Kuan Yew's Greatest Accomplishment May Not Have Been Singapore's Economic Success Health-care expert John Goodman is credited (along with economist Richard Rahn) with first proposing medical savings accounts in the U.S. He says Singapore shows that they can work as the backbone of a health-care system. “The issue is,” he says, “can individuals be counted on to manage their own health-care dollars responsibly, or does health care work better if all the dollars are controlled by government or insurance companies?” The answer is clear.

Not only is Singapore’s population healthy, but the private sector dominates health-care spending, and consumer choice keeps health-care costs down. In Singapore, the government’s share of health-care spending has fallen to 20 percent, down from 50 percent 30 years ago. “Singapore has found a rational way to provide services that are provided by legalized Ponzi schemes in the rest of the developed world,” Goodman told me in an interview. “Those governments have made promises they must either default on or impose draconian taxes to pay for. Singapore has avoided that problem.” It’s no wonder that other countries constantly consult Singapore for guidance on how to turbo-charge their economies. In 2011, Ghana’s vice president, John Dramani Mahama, told a visiting delegation from Singapore that his country “takes a lot of inspiration from Singapore in their economic transformation from a third- into a first-world country.” There is less to emulate from Singapore’s brand of politics. As Frank Lavin, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore from 2001 to 2005, notes : “Lee believed that open politics can lead to demagoguery, rent-seeking, and short-term thinking.

Yet over time, Singapore did become more open, allowing for both political debate and contested elections. . . . Of Lee’s many successes, his most important legacy might be the move to that more open political system to complement the open economics.” But from my visit there, I believe that the least appreciated part of Lee Kwan Yew’s legacy is his method of ensuring that one generation won’t bankrupt future generations by selfishly living beyond its means. It’s a welfare state that works, and one he always said was available to any political leader with the courage to tell his people the truth about the limits of government’s power to pass out goodies. — John Fund is national-affairs correspondent for NRO.

Question: Lee Kuan Yew became Prime Minister of which country in 1959?
Answer: SINGAPORE